A/N: This was the first chapter of this story written, believe it or not, the rest of this adventure springs from this. Weird how your muses get started, isn't it

He was at the elm again, watching as she was dragged down the steps, forced to her knees.

But this time, he could hear them.

"Out of luck," Zero grinned down maliciously at her. "Where's your son?"

He could see that face, that beautiful, wonderful, completely nonchalant face, even as the blood dripped down it. She smiled. "Who?"

But Zero didn't falter. "So he's left you as well. Abandoned you, just like your husband."

"I thought my husband was dead." Adora replied coolly. "Make up your mind, you lying sack of dung."

"Oh, he's still alive. Locked away in his tin box." Zero moved closer, wanting to see her crumble as he told her the truth. "But you never got back to him, did you?"

"On the contrary," Adora smiled, unwavering, "I never left him."

And the vision faded to black as Zero reached for her throat.

For the first time in a long time, Wyatt Cain was at peace. He was warm, calm, and safe. The breeze caressed his cheek and he could hear the gentle rustle of the trees and the grass around him. The familiar scent of wildflowers filled his senses and he let his body take in the feel of the soft earth beneath him.

Slowly, he became aware of the fact that what he had thought was the wind was actually fingers and that his head was pillowed against something soft and warm. The fingers trailed along his hairline right behind his ear in a way that was painstakingly memorable. "Wyatt?"

With an effort, he opened his eyes and looked into her face from where his head lay on her thigh.

Immediately, he was on his feet, turning to face her where she sat among the Blue Bonnets, clad in a simple yellow cotton dress.

He reached for his gun. Adora smiled when his hand found nothing but air. "No gun. Even if you had it, you know I would have taken the bullets out of it."

He fell into the routine easily. "You know I hate it when you do that."

She sighed, in that wonderfully mock-irritated way. "Well, I don't know what you expected me to do. I was not leaving a loaded weapon around our son."

He had always felt an injustice at this. "I unloaded it. I just don't see why you insisted upon hiding the bullets."

"Did it ever occur to you," her smile turned mischievous, "that I liked hearing you cuss whenever I made you look for them? I loved hiding 'em in the flour. Watching dig around in there and get that nice crisp uniform just covered."

Any doubts he may have had vanished on the wind. "It is you, isn't it?"

"In the flesh," she replied. "So to speak."

"That's not funny, Adora."

"A sense of humor will get you through anything. Even death."

He looked down at her. "Am I dead?"

Slowly, she shook her head.

"Where are we?"

Adora didn't answer. Instead, she stood and held out a hand to him. "Walk with me?"

Apprehensively, he reached out to her. Always before, he had been so close before she had disappeared into thin air. As the inches closed between them, he held his breath waiting for the instant where she would be taken from him again.

And he felt himself nearly break when her soft hand slid so easily into his. He latched on, vowing to never let go again. She began to lead him and he followed, falling in step beside her.

He took in the surroundings as they walked along the bank of a lazy crystal blue river that rushed softly over the rocks. This was a well worn path. They had traveled it together before. "This is the Kisra River."

She smiled and pointed to their left. There sat the small, cozy cabin he remembered so well. It was the one that they had built together in what they both had considered Paradise. He had been a Tin Man in the Eastern Territories then, one of the lucky ones that was never away from home more then a few days at a time. His fellow lawmen had made fun of him for his zeal to get back to his wife. He didn't care and actually felt sorry for them, knowing that he had a rare love that they would never understand.

He stood and watched the blue smoke rolling from the chimney. "We should have stayed. If I hadn't made you leave-"

"You couldn't 'make' me do anything. If we hadn't left, the Resistance wouldn't have been able to hold out as long, young DG would have probably died in the Papay fields, our son would be dead or worse, and the entire O.Z. would have been covered in eternal darkness." Adora's tone was stern as he turned wide eyes on her. "Don't you think I haven't been watching you, Wyatt Cain."

He looked back to the cabin, trying not to smile. "I knew I must have had a guardian angel watching over me."

She wasn't buying the cheap line. "Nice try."

"But you were there?"

"Everywhere you go." Those beautiful blue eyes found his. "We need to talk, Wyatt." She took a deep breath. "You have to stop doing this."

"What?"

"Blaming yourself." Adora shook her head at him. "Everything that's happened is not your fault."

"If I had been there-"

"If." Adora replied. "If you had been there, if I wasn't dead, if Papay had wings they could fly. If, if, if."

He had to laugh at her. "Do you know how much I miss you?"

"Everyday." Adora stepped in closer. "You are the man that taught me how to love. How often did I tell you that?"

"All the time." He remembered it, whispered so softly in the sweet cover of night when he held her close.

"I'm glad you remember." Her hands were on his chest. "I meant it. Do you know how much it hurts me to know that the person who gave me such a wonderful gift is in pain every day because of me?"

"Adora-"

"You can't tell me it's not true. I know that it is." She touched his cheek gently. "Darling, if all you can do is dwell on the end of my life, why remember me at all?"

"You want me to forget you?" He asked in disbelief.

"In a way you already have, haven't you?" There was sadness in her eyes. "When was the last time you thought about the day we met?"

It had been years, literally. The image of Zero's attack on their home had been engraved on his psyche by the continuous image loop he was forced to watch during his time in the suit. When DG and Glitch had released him, vengeance had leapt to the forefront of his mind. And after their adventure had ended . . . well, it had just been too painful.

He let the memory come now. "As I recall, you pulled a gun on me."

She laughed as he put his arms around her waist and pulled her close. "I apologized."

"Uh-huh," he reveled in their closeness as he continued to tease her. "And what about that dance at the Spring Festival?"

"That was not my fault."

"Are you still claiming that Delores Donnell slipped into that table full of cakes?"

"I can not believe you arrested me."

"It was assault."

"I was your date!" Adora exclaimed, a breath away from hysterical laughter. "You should have known better than to take me out in public."

They were leaning against each other, laughing so hard they were about to fall over. Cain managed to get control of himself. As he stood back, he watched Adora wipe tears of mirth from her eyes. "It was always an adventure, wasn't it?"

She nodded. "You know, after Zero came, Jeb and I were constantly on the run. I tried to tell him all that I could about you, but I'm sure I missed some of our exploits. He'd probably love to hear them."

He stared at the ground. She had seen everything.

Adora put a hand on his shoulder. "He thinks that if you had the choice, you would have wanted me to live instead of him."

"He has to know that's not true." Cain fired defensively.

"Well, he's definitely your son." Adora replied tersely. "Both of you think everyone should just automatically know what you're feeling. I hate to tell you this, love, but many of the rest of us are not Viewers. You've got to talk to us."

"He has to know how much I love him." Cain insisted.

"Wyatt," Adora said slowly. "Jeb hasn't seen you since he was ten annuals old. All he knows of you is what he remembers. He has his own guilt to deal with and that makes him jump to the wrong conclusions. You need to help him through it."

"It's just . . . hard." Cain replied softly. "I don't want to hurt him."

"You hurt him more if you don't talk to him." Adora said. "He's not a child. You don't have to shelter him as much as you think you do. He had to grow up fast and he's grown well. He's a lot like his father."

"Then he's in trouble." Cain said, dryly.

Adora sputtered a laugh. "It could be worse. He could take more after me."

"True. I probably won't have to arrest him."

She didn't reply, but grinned as she took his hand again. He allowed himself to be lead once more. This path, too, was well worn. It meandered down back towards the river to a tall Weeping Willow that blew gently in the wind. This is where they had come so often to escape the heat of the summer. Sometimes, they would talk. Sometimes they wouldn't. He remembered every blissful moment spent beneath the boughs of the old Weeping Willow.

Adora pushed back the tree's tendrils and went to the trunk. Carefully, she sat down, pulling him down with her. He sat beside her and watched the water for a few minutes. "I won't stop missing you."

She reached up to play with the short hair at the nape of his neck. "I'm not asking you to. I'm just asking you to remember the good times, too. We sure had a lot of them. It would be a shame for all of those to be lost."

Cain turned to her, running the backs of his fingers over the curve of her cheek. "I love you. Always will."

She returned the gesture, and moved closer. "I love you, too."

Praying that he wouldn't wake up now, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. They were warm beneath his mouth, as warm and real as every other precious touch he had ever experienced with her. With everything he had, he tried to impart the passion, love, and longing to her that he felt. This kiss was going to have to last the rest of his life. He knew that and he accepted it.

Sorrow crept up in as they moved apart. "I can't stay, can I?"

For the first time, he saw tears of regret in her eyes as she shook her head wordlessly.

"Can I stay for a while?" He asked softly.

"I'd like that."

Gently, he put his arms around her waist and leaned against her shoulder. Adora wrapped her arms around him as he sighed. He was silent, listening to the steady beat of her heart and feeling her chest rise and fall.

Her warm lips pressed against his forehead as her delicate fingers ran along his hairline. "I am always with you, Wyatt. I promise."

Cain fell asleep to the melodic sounds of the water and the wind singing gently in the boughs of the Willow.

Waking up hurt this time. A lot. As he forced his eyes open, he focused in on the ceiling of one of Finaqua's suites. Actually, it was his suite. He'd studied that ceiling on enough sleepless nights to have memorized every nook and cranny. The moonlight was reflecting off of the lake, creating dancing, shimmering patterns against the light blue paint. At least it gave him something to look at as he tried to ignore the fact that every part of his body was crying "Uncle!"

"Mr. Cain?" The voice came from just off of his right side. Resisting the urge to groan, he turned his head.

There sat the last person in the O.Z. he had expected to see. "Your Majesty?"

Orianah smiled. "You gave us quite a scare. Your fever only broke a few hours ago."

"How long-?"

"Two days. I'm afraid we just got you back to Finaqua this morning."

"Jeb, the princesses-"

"Everyone is fine." She smiled. "With the exception of you."

"Good," Cain hadn't realized he had tried to sit up until he fell back against the pillows. "The machine?"

"Destroyed. Along with Stribog and most of the Suket." Orianah smiled. "You were very lucky to have survived. We found you along what was left of the corridor."

"Yeah, I ducked into one of the doorways of a cell and hoped for the best."

"You were lying beneath a piece of stone propped up against the frame of that door." She touched his arm. "Raw could only heal some of your physical wounds. There were other, deeper scars that he could not mend."

That damned curse Azkadellia had mentioned, undoubtedly. But his head was clear again. The guilt and anger were gone, replaced instead with a longing, but one that he wanted to embrace.

The last vestiges of his dreams were slipping away now as was the feeling of Adora in his arms. The pain was intensifying as he felt her loss again.

"Are you all right, Mr. Cain?"

He couldn't help it. He gave her a wry look.

"I didn't mean physically."

He sighed heavily and felt his ribs protest. "Just a dream, I guess."

"Sometimes, dreams are only dreams." Orianah leaned in closer as if revealing a deep, carefully guarded secret. "Sometimes, they are the realities that we cannot see with our eyes open."

Cain smiled. This was obviously where DG got that introspective, and decidedly annoying, streak. He was grateful. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Now then," Orianah rose, "would you please inform those two over on the settee that you have no intention of passing into the Dark Abyss and they needn't watch over you all evening?"

With a final smile, the Queen turned and strode with silent grace from the room.

It took some doing, but Cain managed to turn his head towards the window. What he saw made him laugh quietly. On the small uncomfortable couch sat his son, still fully clothed, with his head pitched back snoring lightly. Tucked under his protective arm was DG, nestled up against his side with her hand resting on Jeb's stomach. Both were content and peaceful.

He smirked. Oh well. This wasn't going to be very nice, but orders were orders. And he sure wasn't getting up. With some effort, he pulled one of the pillows from behind his head.

Swinging his arm, he let the soft projectile fly. It caught Jeb right in the face, making him jump off the couch and yell, moving from pure flight-or-fight response. The pillow had fallen down on DG who had screamed when Jeb had screamed. The confusion on their faces was comical.

"Hey," Cain said with an effort, as he tried no to laugh. "Go to bed."

"Dad?"

"Cain!"

They were both to him an in instant. Jeb looked relieved. "How are you?"

"Great, son. Let's arm wrestle."

DG smirked. "He'll be fine."

"Yeah, he will." Cain looked back and forth between the two. "When I left, I had planned for you two to stay here. How is it that I saw both of you at Stribog's castle?"

A panicked look passed between his son and the princess. Obviously, they hadn't expected to be confronted so soon. DG cleared her throat. "You know, Mr. Cain, you really do need some rest."

"Yeah, you shouldn't be talking too much." Jeb put in.

"Stress isn't good for a man in your condition."

"Not at all."

"All right." He raised a hand to stop them. He knew a conspiracy when he saw one. He looked from one to the other. Judging by the looks on their faces, there was still something up. "What else?"

"Um," DG bit her lip. "We kinda didn't want to tell you until you were feeling better."

"I'm feeling better." Cain said pointedly. "Tell me."

Jeb shrugged as if to tell DG to lay it on his father. DG sighed. "We couldn't find your hat."

"What?"

"Or your gun." Jeb put in.

"We looked, we swear!" DG held up her hands defensively.

Cain couldn't help but laugh a little. "It's okay. You're all alive. I think that's a little more important."

"We'll replace them." DG said earnestly. "I mean they were lost in service to the Crown."

Cain shook his head, still smiling. "Did you get your Light back, kid?"

It was impossible to miss the fond glance the princess gave his son. "Turns out I had it all along. Jeb and Raw helped me find it."

Cain reached up and took his son by the shoulder. "I'm proud of you, son."

"Thank you, sir."

"You and I need to talk."

Jeb nodded. "Yeah, we do."

"Tomorrow."

"Dad, I don't know if-"

"Tomorrow." Cain repeated. "What I have to say can wait until then, but it won't hold any longer than that."

"Okay," Jeb said. "Okay."

"Now, go get some sleep." Cain put his hand to his son's cheek, making sure that Jeb caught every word of what he had to say next. "I love you, son. And I thank the gods every day that I have you."

Cain hadn't meant to catch him off-guard. Jeb swallowed hard, his eyes bright. "I love you, too, Dad."

A/N: Are you all happy? I didn't kill him. There's one last chapter, folks, just to tie up these loose ends and leave us all with that warm squishy feeling inside.